Mocha Chip (Vegan) Mousse [#MMAZ]

If all goes according to plan, as you are reading this, I have successfully made it to Alabama from Pennsylvania by way of Charlottesville, collecting my belongings as I go and officially moving to the Deep South. Only time (and Instagram?) will tell what happened along the way, as I expect a bit of radio blog silence over the next week.

But I couldn’t leave y’all without a Meatless Mondays A-Z recipe, now could I?*

*Haven’t missed one yet. It has become a point of pride to never do so.

As soon as Heather made the announcement that I is for Instant Coffeeand I got over the ‘cheat’ factor of this one my brain started churning.

Seeing as how I was moving, I did not think it would be the smartest plan to go out and buy instant coffee where there wasn’t any before, but… I was in luck!

Stepmama Smart travels often, and has quickly learned the ways of the Smarts*, meaning: steal every free sample and single-serve food item that you can find.

*Names have been changed. [In case you are new. ;)]

The rest of this recipe was simply the result of asking myself “What do I already have that I need to use before moving?” and “Can we please involve chocolate?“

And my self*–being not only highly creative but also very permissive to cravings on occasion–responded with “tofu” and “Abso-frickin’-lutely!”

*Not a typo.Fun with grammar.

And although really, I had hit upon an eye-opener* right there…

*Double entendre intended.

(A SUPER THICK one at that.)

My self remembered that there were some semisweet (and fully delicious) heat-bleached chocolate chips buried in a box in my car.

don't judge a chip by its cover. um. color.

I had hopes, but I honestly didn’t think it was going to turn out this good: subtle coffee flavor in a semisweet chocolate cloud with a nice surprise of slightly sweeter chippy crunch.

But if the fact that I found myself scraping the edges of the tup-faux-ware container in which it was stored with the fridge door wide open in the late hours of the night and the wee hours of the morning is any indication, well–

–I’ll just leave it at that.

Mocha Chip (Vegan) Mousse

14-oz. package extra firm tofu

1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 c. chocolate chips

2 Tbsp. demerara or other brown sugar

2 Tbsp. water or alterna-milk

smidge of stevia (optional)

1 1/2 Tbsp. instant coffee granules (or 1 level Tbsp. grounds/powder)

1 Tbsp. vanilla

Combine all ingredients but chocolate chips in a food processor.

Blend until smooth, adding more water or alterna-milk if a thinner consistency is desired.